John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 11/13/2005
Jukai Ceremony for Chikei Levister, Sanjo Wilder and Yudo Abraham
Download the mp3 or listen here:
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 11/13/2005
Jukai Ceremony for Chikei Levister, Sanjo Wilder and Yudo Abraham
Download the mp3 or listen here:
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/11/2005
The True Dharma Eye, Case #55
There is a music in us, an inner voice which is audible to our teachers, but not always to us. We can’t express this music using other’s words or other’s ways of seeing things. Yet the expression of it is the vital thing; it’s not enough to embody it — we have to be able to communicate that truth. Daido Roshi encourages us to ‘let our bones dance’, to respond, and to sing with others in such a way that it creates a voice that doesn’t belong to anyone; our collective voice. That is true expression, true intimacy; that is truth; which in turn leads to true compassion that we can activate in the world.
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 11/28/2004
Koans of the Way of Reality
Religious traditions all over the world have always had to deal with the question of “the source.” If God created the world, then who, or what created God? Is there anything outside of God, outside the universe? It is this mystery that lies at the heart of all religious searching, and it is one that cannot be described in words or images. In taking up this question, Daido Roshi quotes Master Jingqing’s answer to a monk: “One drop is just black ink. Two drops, and a dragon comes to life.”
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/27/2003
Koans of the Way of Reality, Case #109
How do we perceive the truth? If we look for it with our eyes and our ears, we’ll miss it. In this talk, Daido Roshi takes up the intuitive nature of expression and understanding, and reminds us, once again, that it’s “all in the subtleties.”
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/26/1998
True Dharma Eye, Case #12
Zen points us toward a direct realization of our true nature that surpasses any ideas we might have. In this talk Daido Roshi looks at the path of Zen training, teaching that at every point along the way, our practice is deeply personal and includes everything.
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/5/1995
The Gateless Gate, Case #9
The teachings tell us we’re already perfect and complete. But why don’t we feel that way? Our sense of separation from our perfection is the root of our suffering. The aim of practice is to make this truth alive and real in our lives right now.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/15/2022
From the Book of Serenity, Case 18 – Zhaozhou’s Dog
If buddha nature is ineffable, if it has no characteristics, then how do we turn towards it? We want to direct our attention towards it so we can examine it and realize it. But it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t have a form. So how do we study that which is our true self, our true nature? Shugen Roshi takes up these questions using the well known koan “Does a dog have buddha nature?”
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/08/2022
From Master Wu-men’s Gateless Gate, Case 35 – Ch’ien and Her Soul Are Separated
How do we remain undivided amidst the divisive forces within and around us? And where can we truly go to seek wholeness in our lives? In this talk, Shugen Roshi explores the experience of division and wholeness, and how Zen practice brings us closer to the heart of the matter.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 05/08/2022
How do we practice fearlessness in the midst of fear? In this talk, Hojin Sensei invokes the dragon – a being that is often referenced in the Zen tradition as an embodiment of our enlightened nature. It is through turning around and facing the dragon with direct, kind awareness, she says, that we develop our capacity for fearlessness.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 05/01/2022
This Dharma Encounter with Hojin Sensei took place at the conclusion of the Apple Blossom Sesshin. What are our reasons for coming to the Dharma? Is our practice helping to answer those questions? And how do we know that our practice is working? Hojin Sensei takes these questions up with Ango participants in a lively discussion.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday 04/30/2022
From The Blue Cliff Record, Case 87 – Medicine and Disease Subdue Each Other
Why do certain afflictions arise for us? Are we simply victims of our karma, of causes and conditions? Or might our hardships be helping us cultivate something that we need? In this talk, Shugen Roshi illuminates how it is through our suffering that we find our path to liberation and that our teachers are often closer than we think.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday Evening 04/29/2022
Dharma Talk during the Apple Blossom Sesshin 2022 Fusatsu Ceremony
Not Creating Evil, Practicing Good, and Actualizing Good For Others — these are The Three Pure Bodhisattva Precepts. But what does it mean to truly take up these vows in our own lives? In this talk, Hojin Sensei explores the meaning of each precept and how they can guide us in our practice.
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Thursday 04/28/2022
The Buddha pointed to our desires as the origin of our suffering. But how do we understand desire? Does having wants guarantee us pain? In this talk, Hogen Sensei discusses the nature of desire and investigates the difference between having attachments and liking certain things. How can we determine if we are bound by desire? And how do we hold the things in life we do like?
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 04/27/2022
Why are we drawn to a retreat where silence is practiced? And why did the Buddha refer to this practice as “Noble Silence”? In this talk, Hojin Sensei opens the April Apple Blossom Sesshin by inquiring into the first sesshin precaution–to maintain inner and outer silence–and explores what silence and stillness have to offer us.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 04/24/2022
Why are the Bodhisattva Vows so important in Buddhist Practice? Where do they come from and why are they these particular four–to save all sentient beings, to put an end to desires, to master the dharma, and to attain the Buddha Way? In this talk, Shugen Roshi explores the meaning of each vow and illustrates what they can teach us about our true nature.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 04/17/2022
Shugen Roshi officiates the Spring Ango Jukai ceremony at Zen Mountain Monastery in which six students receive the sixteen Buddhist precepts. Rennin, Seisan, Jiho, Yugaku, Shindo & Onren have all been practicing as formal students and studying these moral and ethical teachings for a number of years. During the ceremony Shugen Roshi offers joyful encouragement to the recipients as they take up these living teachings, living vows.
Richard Rennin Hubbard (“Pure Patience”)
Michele Seisan Laura (“Peaceful Mountain”)
Mark Jiho Taylor (“To Set Free, Release the Self'”)
Tom Yugaku Caplan (“To Remember and Know Courage”)
Rebecca Shindo Kisch (“Trust in the Way”)
Daniel Onren Latorre (“True Kindness” / “Pure Gratitude”)
